Courtney Ewing doubled to left-center field in the second inning to give Palm Beach Gardens (14-4) the lead. With Brittany Bowles cruising through St. Thomas hitters, it seemed like the slim edge might be enough to carry the Gators.

However, after Mary Horton singled with one out in the fourth inning, back-to-back errors led to two St. Thomas runs. Lexi Spellacy then put the Raiders (16-1) up 3-1 with an RBI double.

"We knew, playing a team like Palm Beach Gardens, that any opportunity we were going to have to take advantage of," St. Thomas coach Bryan Baucom said. "Brittany is such a great pitcher, we said, 'Hey, you've got to put the ball in play and have them make some mistakes.' "

With just two seniors in the lineup, errors have proven costly in the Gators' losses.

"We've just got to get better and work harder on defense," Palm Beach Gardens coach Randy Jackson said.

"We'll be all right."

St. Thomas pitcher Lauren Kramer finished with just two strikeouts, but the defense played error-free behind her.

"We stayed pumped the whole time, and we never let go of the game," Kramer said. "We tried to get on base, because [Bowles] was definitely overpowering. We got the job done. We put the ball in play."

Bowles, a senior, didn't give up an earned run and finished with 14 strikeouts, two in each inning.

Baucom said he was happy to see his team rebound after experiencing its first loss of the season to Jacksonville's Eagle's View last week.

"I'm real proud of our kids," Baucom said. "I think in the first inning we were a little shell-shocked, but as we started putting the ball in play a little bit, you could see that hunger."